The Only One Who Understands
by Soraki
Summary: Jounouchi Katsuya's abusive father goes too far. Not knowing what to do, Katsuya turns to the only person who can help him. [SetoJou]
1. Past the Line

**[warnings]:** this is a pretty dark fic as it deals with lots of abuse. Plus it's a shounen-ai (boy-boy love) fic. Homophobes Beware!!!

**[disclaimer]:** yugioh and all it's glorious characters belong to Kazuki Takahashi and Konami.

Chapter 01 of 'The Only One Who Understands', a SetoJou fanfiction

Jounouchi Katsuya stared at the picture of what used to be his family. A hardworking father, a dedicated mother, an overprotective older brother, and a pretty little sister who would go to movies together, go camping together, and go to the beach together. They would quarrel like other families, but they were normal.

They were a happy family.

Slowly things began to change. They stopping going out together and the fights became more frequent and more serious. Katsuya's father began coming home drunk and beating his wife. Soon she would never be home at the same time as him. Eventually, she never came home at all. She took Jou's little sister, Shizuka, and left.

So the old man turned his attention to Katsuya, beating the boy every night all while accusing the boy that it was his fault that his mother left. Every night Jounouchi would go to bed covered in bruises and dripping in blood.

A single tear fell onto the slightly cracked glass of the picture frame. This faded photograph was the only tie Jou had to his happy past. His mother and sister were gone and it was all his fault.

It was because he never behaved, because he wasn't the perfect student, because he wasn't the perfect little boy that his parents were divorced. It was all Katsuya's fault.

Every day that's what the young blond heard. And today was no exception.

Katsuya dropped the picture when he heard the front door crash open. His father was back—and drunk. The old man staggered into the main room.

"WHAT THE FUCK ER YA STILL HERR FOR?!? I TOLD'YA TA GET OUT!!" He shoved Katsuya into the nearest filthy wall and growled. "You useless piece of shit."

Katsuya's father turned to go get some beer from the fridge when he saw the picture. He bent down and picked it up off the floor. The faces of a happy family at the beach smiled at him. It was like the picture was_ mocking_ him. Eyes shining with pure raging hatred, the old man threw the frame at Katsuya.

The frame hit the wall on the right and the glass shattered. Glittering shards rained down onto the floor, one slicing Katsuya's cheek on the way. He flinched when he felt warms blood slowly ooze down his cheek. His father sauntered towards him, stopping only when their faces was mere inches away.

"So ya miss 'em, huh?" He spat at the young blond. "It's your fault they left, yanno. They hate you; I hate you. IT'S ALL YER FUCKIN' FAULT!"

It all came as a blur. The older Jounouchi swung his fists madly, beating his own son. His blows landed on Katsuya's shoulders, his neck, and his already bleeding cheek, causing him to clutch his face and scream out in agony. His father then began to the kick the blond boy. He thrust his leg furiously at Katsuya's ribcage and his chest, eventually hitting the boy's lungs.

Katsuya doubled over and violently coughed, blood escaping his pale lips and splattering onto the rotting wooden floor. Jou's father took the opportunity to viciously kick his side, causing Katsuya to cough up even more. The sight of blood sent Katsuya's father over the edge. He grabbed a beer bottle of the table and cracked it in half on the edge of the counter. He raised the bottle over his head and swung it in a great arc.

Jou fell on his back in an effort to dodge the sharp glass. Instead of hitting his head, the glass shredded his shirt and made a diagonal slash across his chest. Blood gushed out from the fresh wound and trickled down his chest, staining his white t-shirt a deep crimson.

"YA USELESS PIECE 'A SHIT! FIRST YA DRIVE AWAY YER MOTHA AND THEEN YA DON'T LISTEN TA ME?!?" The old man opened the door behind him and kicked Katsuya in the stomach one time for good measure. The bleeding boy tumbled backwards through the doorway and onto the concrete floor outside. He was immediately drenched in the cold rain water that fell from the sky. He was lying on his back, staring into the grey clouds that covered the sky while the rain mixed with the blood on his chest. "I dun want no piece of shit in my house, so STAY OUT!"

The old man slammed the door.

Katsuya didn't move. He had no where to go; he didn't want to deepen his debt to Yugi. Honda was out of town for the month and Anzu was…well, she was just Anzu.

He was alone. Utterly alone. There was no one he knew who could help him. None of his friends could understand how it felt to be utterly used and abused.

Jounouchi slowly stood up on his shaking legs. He stared at the sky. This wasn't the time to be proud. This wasn't the time to be a street punk. He was the only one who could understand.

Katsuya ran to Kaiba Corp.

[ ( ^^) ( ^^ ) (^^ )]

Seto Kaiba stood there glaring at his secretary, Kairi. The stupid girl was making a necklace instead of filing for Kaiba. He would fire her, but there wasn't enough of a labor source in Domino to get a replacement.

"Listen, girl. When I tell you to file, you better file. I don't care about your stupid shell necklace." Kaiba sneered.

"B-but the shells are g-good luck for a j-journey…"

"I DON'T CARE ABOUT YOUR STUPID SHELLS!" Kaiba slammed his hand down on Kairi's desk, creating enough force to send papers flying and to scare the stupid girl shitless. Kaiba lowered his voice to a dangerously sexy level. "If those papers aren't filed by the end of the day, the only journey you'll be making is one to the unemployment office. Is that understood?"

Kairi stared down at her short purple skirt and watched her fingers fidget with the frilly lace. Her short red hair fell over her dark eyes, as she replied in a shaky voice. "…y-yes sir."

"Good. Now that that's taken care of, do I have any app—" Kaiba was suddenly cut off buy the sound of wild sobbing. He spun around to face the entrance of Kaiba Corp., where he saw the Katsuya. "Mutt, what do you want?"

Then Kaiba had a nice look at Katsuya. The blond was dripping with rain, tears, and blood. The shreds of his stained t-shirt clung to him like a second skin as he panted heavily. His hair clung to his face, the blood-caked locks framing a pale face that was covered with tears and more blood. Katsuya's right cheek had stopped bleeding as had the wound on his chest. But all that blood lost and all the running left no energy left in the blond and he began to fall to his knees. "…Kaiba…"

The taller boy's eyes widened as he took in Katsuya's appearance. Kairi quickly called an ambulance as Kaiba ran forward and caught the blond before he hit the ground. Kaiba stared at the beat up boy in his arms. "Who did this to you?"

Katsuya just coughed, his body shaking violently as blood spewed from his pale lips. He looked at the taller boy who supported his body this current state, completely covered in cuts and bruises. Katsuya breathed heavily, each intake more painful than the last. He felt like he was dying. "…Kaiba…"

"Puppy, who did this to you?"

Katsuya began wheezing as it became harder to breathe. All energy gone, he collapsed in Kaiba's arms and dragged them both to the floor. Katsuya rested his head on Kaiba's chest and continued to cough violently. His chest felt constricted as his lungs were filled with blood. Kaiba looked down at the blond in his arms with his clouded cobalt eyes. There was a look of familiarity in his eyes. "Puppy…."

"P-please, Kaiba….." It was getting harder for Katsuya to keep his eyes opened. The blurred room around him was slowly becoming darker and darker as Katsuya fell into an abyss of oblivion.

_"….help me…"_

[ ( ^^) ( ^^ ) (^^ )]

Voila!! Chapter 01 of 'The Only One Who Understands!' Hopefully it ended up as dark as I wanted it to be. I'm not the good of a writer (as you can tell). As to why Kaiba actually cared about Jou, you'll find out next chapter. And since I have no clue whatsoever about Jou's family background, hopefully I'm not too off. Info is greatly appreciated.

Drop me a review, please!!!

==Soraki over and out.


	2. I Dream of Coconuts

OH MY RA!! I'm sooooo sorry about the almost five month wait for this chapter. And now for my lame excuse. ;;; See I said I wasn't gonna think about my fanfictions until after APs and I didn't. But once the tests of doom were over, I realized that this story had no direction. I wrote the first chapter in chem class after our teacher yelled at us (cuz we all failed another of his tests) and I was in a pissy mood. I didn't think that it would get such a response here so I just posted without thinking about what's gonna happen in the story. So after APs, I panicked. I made up a plot and I got writer's block. After bugging my friends (Hanakin: OH THE HORROR!!), I finally got the dream at the end written and the rest eventually fell into place.

::bows:: I'm soo sorry it took so long

AND OMR!! I got the most amazing toothbrush ever!!! It's for 5-year-olds, so it's annoyingly small, but major droolage. The bristles are red and black (hell yes) and on the place you hold it (the handle?) is an amazing picture of the o-so-sexy Kaiba Seto himself surrounded by flames and his BEWD. It's AMAZING!!! XDDDDDDDDDDD

Now, if you're still here, I would like you to enjoy the next installment. A rather important note is at the end (no, I'm not taking another break )

**[ w a r n i n g s ]:** This is a shounen-ai story!! As in two really hot guys making out (well, not yet). Oh, and there's major OOCness on Mokie's part and a whole lot of coconuts. XDD

**[ d i s c l a i m e r ]:** I do not own yugioh or Kaiba Seto. I just have pictures of him EVERYWHERE. And for the last chapter, Kairi's name and body are from Kingdom Hearts and belong to the joint union (it sounds like they're married ) between SquareSoft-gone-Enix and Disney Interactive. I own her o-so-very twisted soul.

---

Chapter 02 of 'The Only One Who Understands': I dream of coconuts

Amber eyes fluttered open as Jou scanned his surroundings in an effort to identify his location. His tired eyes glanced past the paintings on the walls, past the hundreds of books lining the walls, past the papers that were carelessly strewn on the rich mahogany desk, and landed on the silver nameplate that rested near the corner of the desk. Jou squinted, trying to read the inscription without being blinded by the sun's reflection.

'K-A-L—wait, that's an I—B-A…S-E-T-O…'

Jou blinked. Once, then twice.

"I'm in KAIBA'S ROOM?!?"

A soft mumble answered his outburst, and Jou spun his head toward the sound. There, on the edge of the bed, was Kaiba Seto himself. He had fallen asleep while kneeling next to the bed and his head had fallen onto the soft satin sheets. Jou reached out, his hand moving toward the mop of brown hair that had fallen over Kaiba's eyes. His fingers brushed against the soft tendrils and—

"I'VE GOT A LOVELY BUNCH OF COCONUTS!!!!" Mokuba burst through the doors, flailing and bouncing around madly.

"GYAAAAAAAAH!!! MOKUBA!!"

"THERE THEY ARE STANDING IN THE ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAD!!!!!!!!!!"

"Mokuba! Sssh!! Don't wake up Kaiba—"

"BIG ONES, SMALL ONES, SOME AS BIG AS YOUR HEEEEEEAAAAD!!"

"Moku—"

Mokuba was psychotically bouncing around the room, miraculously not destroying it in the process. Jou, afraid of the wrath of a cranky Kaiba waking up, was frantically trying to hush up the hyper boy. He liked his head on his shoulders thank you very much. But Jou's efforts were in vain.

"NYAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHA!!!"

Jou tensed as he felt the weight on the bed shift; Kaiba was awake. 'Oh crap crap craaaaaaaap. We're all gonna diiiiiieeeeeee!!' He clutched his head, awaiting the dramatic boom of the Kaiba mansion exploding. He could see it now: the immense fire in the background and his dead body lying at the feet of a maniacal Kaiba Seto who was cackling insanely as his trench coat billowed out behind him.

The explosion never came. Seto simply mumbled a few obscenities before facing his younger brother. "Mokuba, what the hell did you eat for breakfast?"

"eh?" Mokuba suddenly ceased his crazy coconut dance and blinked before turning toward his brother. "um….chocolate cake covered in vanilla frosting and topped with coconut shavings!! Nothing like a goooood and healthy breakfast, ne onii-chan?" And the little Kaiba brother was back to spinning around in circles. "WEEEEEEEEeeeeeeeeeeeeeEEEEEEEEEEE!!"

Seto stood up, grabbed Mokuba's arm and dragged the still singing boy out the door. "There's some clothes for you on the chair, mutt. Breakfast will be ready in five minutes."

Jou just stared blankly at the door, listening to the fading sound of Mokuba's off key singing. 'What the hell was _that_?' He sighed and slowly got out of bed. Arms and chest wrapped in gauze, Katsuya lumbered out of bed and dragged himself to Kaiba's chair behind his desk. He quickly changed and left for some much needed food, still in shock about the hyperactive Mokuba.

---

"85 COCONUTS HANGING ON A TREEEEEE" Mokuba's musical wails greeted a very sore Jounouchi as the blond staggered into the huge kitchen. "85 COCONUTS HANGING!! SHAKE ONE DOWN, KNOCK A MONKEY OUT, 23 COCONUTS HANGING ON A TREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"

"Um…does this happen often?" Jou slowly inched away from the young psycho. "I mean, Mokuba can usually count, right?"

Kaiba looked up from his muffin and scoffed. "My brother isn't retarded, mutt. He just got to breakfast before I could get to him." He stared at Jou before walking to the room's exit. "Eat quickly and go back to bed; you need to rest."

"Wait, Kaiba!" Jou waited until Kaiba turned to face him, a glint of annoyance in his blue eyes. "W-why am I here?"

Kaiba just stared at Jou. His eyes clouded over as he mentally phrased his answer. He blinked, turned, and walked out of the kitchen. With a slam, Kaiba left the mansion.

---

Kaiba stalked past his secretary ("say anything, wench, and you're fired") and headed up the elevator to his office. Why _had_ he taken Jounouchi? Why didn't he just let the doctors keep him at the hospital? For whatever reasons, Kaiba needed Jou to heal in his house, with him. Kaiba sat in his leather chair behind his desk. He looked around in his office. His step-father's office.

Maybe it was because _he_ never healed.

---

_"HOW STUPID ARE YOU?!?!" Gozaburo slammed his fist on the desk, causing Seto to jump in his seat and the papers around him to flutter onto the floor. "You had two days to perfect that program, and there are still bugs!! Two days, Seto."_

_"I know, father, bu—"_

_"SILENCE!" The elder Kaiba swung his fist and his connected with the side of Seto's face. The young boy flew off the chair and slid across the cold tile floor, slamming his back onto the bookshelf. Seto clenched his eyes shut in an effort to stifle his cries of pain. A thin stream of blood began to trickle down his swelling jaw._

_"Two days should have been more than enough time to complete that program and test it repeatedly for bugs. It should have been perfect." Gozaburo grabbed the urn from the top of the bookcase and threw it onto the floor. It shattered instantly, showering Seto with hundreds of shards that sliced his skin everywhere. "What kind of heir are you?!"_

_Gozaburo kicked the shaking brunet and Seto began violently coughing, blood spewing from his pale lips._

_"YOU. ARE. A. FAILURE.!!" Gozaburo turned on his heel and headed for the door. "You have one hour to debug that software. I suggest you get to work."_

---

No, Kaiba Seto never healed. He never _allowed_ himself to heal. Those wounds were what made him the cold-hearted businessman that was feared by all. They kept his company at the top; they brought home the money that took care of Mokuba. That bastard made him heartless.

Kaiba sighed and got up from his swivel chair. 'I'm never going to get anything done here. Might as well just go home and check on the mutt. If Mokuba knocked him out with a coconut, he is so grounded.'

---

"Heh, sorry about that Jou. I get kinda hyper if I eat too much sugar in the morning."

"Kinda? That was worse than Yugi on caffeine!! And trust me, that's scary." Jou shuddered at the memory of Yugi's first time at Starbucks. There had never been a larger purchase of rope in the history of Japan.

"Yeah, but the cake was so worth it." Mokuba sighed blissfully. "Oh the glory of coconuts!! MWAHAHAHA!!"

"Um, Mokuba?"

"Hmm?"

"Are you sure the sugar wore off?"

"HAHA no." Jou stiffened and got ready to call the police in case things got too crazy. Mokuba chuckled at Jou's reaction. "Just kidding, Jou. Don't worry, I'm sure the sugar's all gone. It's just that we don't have coconuts often 'cause Seto hates them."

"He doesn't like coconuts?" Jou stood up abruptly, knocking the chair he was sitting in to the floor. "Oh the horror!! How could even someone as heartless at Kaiba not enjoy the savory goodness that is a coconut?!"

"umm…"

"Heh. Sorry, Mokie. Coconuts are my passion."

"Haha. If you ever try to bring coconuts in this house, Seto will bombard you with so many that you'll never want to see one again in your life. He'll even attack while you sleep."

"I'll try not to get on Kaiba's bad side when it comes to the coconuts."

---

'God, those moronic employees gave me such a headache. I think I'll fire them tomorrow.' Seto entered the Kaiba mansion exhausted. Seeing that the place was still in one piece and that all lights were out, Kaiba climbed the stairs to his room. He could finally get some rest and not have to worry about coconut-induced hyperactive behavior from his brother.

After seeing that the said Kaiba brother was truly drooling in his bed and had not snuck off to some raunchy nightclub, Kaiba Seto entered his room, ready to collapse into bed. He stumbled around in his room, tossing his jacket and his tie on the floor, and stopped short of dying on his bead when he found it already occupied by a certain blond puppy.

'Oh well. The bed's big enough for the both of us. Now only if he wasn't stretched over the _whole_ thing.' Kaiba roughly shoved Katsuya. Jou rolled over to one side…and rolled back.

'What. The. Hell.' Kaiba shook Jou violently. There was no way in hell that Kaiba was giving up his bed without a fight. "Wake up, you stupid mutt!."

Suddenly, Jou tensed. Kaiba let go of his shoulders and watched as Jou began whimpering softly. His body curled up into a ball and his arms protectively draped around his head. Small tears escaped his tightly shut eyes as the blond began tossing.

---

_Katsuya's honey eyes fluttered open at the sounds of light tapping at his—well, Kaiba's—balcony door. Reluctantly shoving the plush comforter off himself, the blond walked toward the large French doors and groggily glared at the deep blue curtains. "Whaazat?"_

_The tapping just continued._

_"Go away..." Jou turned away from the door and shuffled his way back to bed. "I wanna sleeeeeeeeeeeeeeep....."_

_".....Katsuyaaaaa....." A voice whispered outside, letting the wind carry the sounds into the large bedroom._

_"eh?" Jou turned to the balcony. 'Were the window always opened? Was that Kaiba's voice?' He walked back to the balcony and hesitantly pushed the large glass doors open. He stared into the dark night, the moon casting a soft glow over his pale skin._

_Then he was bombarded with coconuts._

_"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!!!!!!!!" Katsuya frantically ran around the balcony dodging most of the hard coconuts while flailing madly. "WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?!?!?!?"_

_The attack of the flying coconuts suddenly ceased as a maniacal cackling was heard from the grass below. Katsuya ran to the balcony railing and gasped as he saw the slim figure standing tall, his white trench coat swaying with the night breeze. "Kaiba?!?"_

_The cackling continued. "What's wrong, mutt?" The flying coconuts attacked again. "YOU SAID YOU LIKED COCONUTS!!"_

_"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!" Jou fell to the ground, clutching his head in an attempt to protect himself from the evil coconuts of doom._

_"MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!"_

_"No! Please, Kaiba! STOP! NO!"_

"Wake up, you stupid mutt. Get up!" Kaiba shook the blond boy frantically, failing miserably in an attempt to wake him up. He stopped suddenly when he heard Katsuya's next words.

"hnn...Kaiba......ahh, stop....you're hurting me...."

The brunett dropped Katsuya back onto the soft matress and stared at him with wide eyes. 'He dreams about getting hurt. And not just by his father, but... by_ me_...' He shakily reached out and gently stroked Jou's cheek. "Puppy, please wake up."

"Puppy?" Jounouchi slowly opened his tired eyes and gazed into Kaiba's cobalt orbs with his amber ones and screamed.

"AAAAH!! Keep those damned coconuts away from me!"

'What the fuck? He was dreaming about coconuts?!"

"Please, don't hurt me!"

"Mutt, I'm not go--"

"Don't throw them at me--"

"Listen to me, mutt--"

"I'll give them up, I swear!!"

Kaiba reached out and roughly grabbed the sides of Katsuya's head in his hands. "Puppy, listen to me. I will not hurt you, I will not throw coconuts at you, and I will not make you give up coconuts, okay?"

"You won't?"

"No."

"... promise?"

"Yes, I promise. Now move over so I can sleep too." Jou shifted on the bed allowing Kaiba the room to sink into the soft mattress. Together the two fell into a peaceful slumber free of maniacal laughter and flying coconuts of doom.

---

HAHA I looooove that coconut dream. That (along with this chappie) is dedicated to Hanakin. It was inspired by our endless arguments over doughnut holes after school. Hope you all liked it!! And now for my important note.

Even though I have a plot for this story, I still really need reviewer feedback. I'm probably gonna hook the two up in a chappie or two, but is that rushing it? Because I reeaaaaaally don't wanna force it. Plus, should I make one of them not want to hook up at the beginning. AAAAAARG. Sooooo many possibilities. So PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE give me feedback. Anything, nice or nasty, is appreciated.

[ s o r a k i t h e t o r m e n t o r ]


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